Analyse: Derfor klarer USA sig langt bedre end Europa

Analyse fra Natixis:

A considerable lag has appeared between the economic situation of the United States (solid recovery, almost full employment) and that of the euro zone (very weak growth). Some observers ascribe this difference to inadequate demand-side policies in the euro zone: they are critical that fiscal deficits were reduced too soon, that the ECB has been very slow to implement quantitative easing and that there is no European public investment programme. We believe some of these criticisms are valid (public investment, rise in the tax burden), while others are not (monetary policy is ineffective in the euro zone). In particular, fiscal policy on the whole cannot explain the United States’ superior performance, since the structural fiscal deficit was reduced faster in the United States than in the euro zone. It should not be overlooked that a massive difference between the United States and the euro zone is the supply situation: the US economy’s strong competitiveness gave rise to a powerful growth driver in the country’s reindustrialisation, whereas there has been no growth driver in the euro zone due to the unfavourable supply situation. It is supply conditions and not the effectiveness of demand-side policies that play the central role in explaining the divergence between the United States and the euro zone